PSYCHOTROPIC OVERLOAD

PSYCHOTROPIC OVERLOAD
Produced, Directed, Written, Edited, and Photographed by Joseph Alexandre
Steve - David Wittman
Christian - Joseph Alexandre
Tim - John Thomas
Joeseph Alexandre's PSYCHOTROPIC OVERLOAD is psychotronic overload. It's a mixed media avant guard thriller that comes at you from a purely psychological point of view. Allow me to quote from the back of the video sleeve:

Unlike many low budget thrillers which rely heavily on cheap gore, slice and dice special effects; PSYCHOTRONIC OVERLOAD instead titillates the audience on a more psychological and visceral level. This picture was shot on five different film stocks including 16mm color negative, as well as being mastered on the latest digital technology available.

Alexandre pretty much says it best himself. Think Olive Stone with no money and an infinite supply of short ends.
The set-up is simple. Steven Callahan is a therapist plagued with extra-marital issues. His new client Christian is a photographer suffering from murderous fantasies. Recently, a number of male models have been turning up dead in a the same fashion as Christian's delusions. Investigating the murders is Detective Tim Proski.
Director Alexandre uses the mixed formats to reflect the different point of views in the movie. Callahan videotapes his sessions. His interviews are taken directly from that static camera. Callahan's outside life is reflected in 16mm color. Callahan's point of view during his interviews is black and white 16mm. Christian's fantasies are Super 8 black and white. Detective Proski and his contemporaries appear to be both 16 reversal stock and color Super 8.
The approach is interesting and works at visually relating the clues to the audience. The astute viewer can pick up quickly on what's reality and what isn't. The constant blending of shots and stocks helps hide the fact that little of the movie outside of the video is shot in sync. Alexandre tries to avoid photographing mouths while people talk as much as he can. What he's doing is obvious, but he's trying to tell a visual story and not an oral one. At times I found myself confused as to who was speaking and just allowed myself to get lost in the then abstract combination of sound and visuals.
At times the heady mindf*ck does where out it's welcome. With a running time of 83 minutes, PSYCHOTROPIC OVERLOAD could use some trimming. The fist half is almost nothing but Steven and Christian repeating similar information and stories over and over, and it would be easy for an audience to loose interest due to the seemingly repetitive nature..
The final half contains the meat and potatoes of the story as Dr. Callahan's life outside the office is revealed. It's here that the clues start to fall into place. The repeated lines of dialogue and images start to take meaning and provide clear insight into the final twist. Admittedly, the twist came as little surprise, and I'd like to think that's due to the clues being laid out so blatantly.
Alexandre's ambitious attempt at storytelling does succumb to its shortcomings. Often the sound seems muddy - there's a constant rumbling base that distorts the dialogue. The character of the detective is given little to do, showing up periodically to shout on the phone. He's not even involved in the climax and I'm forced to wonder why he was used. Alexandre looked much younger during Christian's Super 8 fantasies and I found myself wondering if they were older projects Alexandre cannibalized for this one.
As an actor, Alexandre possesses a casual style. He's so laid back that it was hard to tell if he was acting or ad-libbing. With the majority of the film non-sync that isn't a problem with the rest of the cast. It's easy to tell they were reading their well-rehearsed lines.
PSYCHOTROPIC OVERLOAD is a mixed blessing. It's tries so hard to be smarter than its contemporaries, and it is, but is handicapped by the limits of its production. Trimmed, it could be one hell of short film that perfectly captures dementia in the context of a hallucinatory DePalma-like thriller. As it stands, OVERLOAD is overload.